Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-01-08
...... ~ on Lincoln.


tears. OF the tragic and grotesque OF
Gap and crown, of Socrates and Ra-
belias, of .Esop and Marcus Aureli-
us, of all that is gentle and just, hu
morous and honest, mercifnl, wise,
lauahable, and devine, and all conse-
GRATED to the use of man while
through all, and over all, an over
whelming sense of obligation of
chivalric loyalty to truth, and upon
all the shadow of the tragic end.
Nearly all the great historic char
acters are impossible monsters, dis
proportional by fiattery, or by cal
jimmy deformed. We know nothing
OF their peculiarities, or nothing bat
their peculiarities About the roots
of these oaks clings none of the earth
of humanity. Washington Is now
only steel engraving. About the
real man who lived and loved and
hated and schemed we know but lit
tie. The glass through which we
look st him is of such high magnify
ing power the features are exceed
inciy indistinct. Hundreds of peo-
pie are now engaged in smoothing
out the lines Of Lncoln's face--forc-
Ing all features to the common mold
so that he may be known, not as
b. really was, but according to their
poor standard, rs he should have
been.
Lincoln was not a type. He stands
alone-no ancestors, no fellows, and
no successors. He had the advant-
age Of living in new country, of So
cial equality, of personal freedom,of
seeing the horizon of his future the
perpetual star Of hope. He preserv-
ed his individuality and his self re-
sp st. lie knew and mingled with
men Of every kind and, after all,
men are the best books. He became
ne uainted with the ambitions and
hopes Of The heart, the means used
to accomplish ends, the springs of
acl5aa and the seeds of thought. He
wa smiliar with common facts He
bved aud appreciated the poem of
Oh year. the drama of the seasons.
Ina new country man must pos
S. AT least tn.ce virtues-honesty,
COURAGE. and generosity. In culti-
vailed society cultivation is often
M. important than soil. A we'll
executed counterfeit passes more
realty than a blurred genuine. 1t
is cessary only to observe.,the I'M
written laws of society--to be hon
est enough to keep out of prison and
generous enough to subscribe in pub
he-where the subscription can be
defended as an investment. In a
new country, character is essential;
in the old, reputation is sufficient.
In the new, they find what a man
really is; in the old he generally
passes for what he resembles. Peo-
pie separated only by distance are
much nearer together than those di-
viAed by the walls of caste.
1t is no advantage to live in a
great city, where poverty degrades
and failure hangs despair. The fields
are lovelier than paved streets, and
the great forest than walls of brick.
Oaks and elms are more poetic than
steeples and chimneys. In the coun-
try is the idea of home. There you
see the rising and setting sun; you
become acquainted with the stars
and clouds. The consultations are
your friends. You hear the rain on
the roof and listen to the rhythmic
signing of the winds. You are thrill
led by the resurrection calling spring,
touched and saddened by autumn,
the grace and poetry of death. Eve
ry field is picture, a landscape,
every landscape poem; every
flower tender thought; and every
forest fairy-land. In the country
you preserve your identity-your
personality. There you are an ag-
gre~stion OF atoms, but in the city
you are only an atom of an aggrega-